Some guests on cable tv news/infotainment shows have claimed the hired Brit agent has credibility in the world IT community. And that he used his contacts in Russia to prepare the dossier. Given Clapper says US IT cannot confirm or deny the truth of the dossier contents, which is also why most of the mainstream media sat on it for so long, what’s the point of releasing it or even confirming the dossier exist to the US public? They cannot assess the truth of its contents, but can only let it bounce around in their minds, definitely harming Trump’s ability to do his job effectively as POTUS. Last ditch effort to unseat him and/or lay groundwork for getting him dumped? Surely as a former KGB guy, Putin has been aware of the dossier, so I’m not sure why he would have allowed it to be made as Trump has been a fan of his.
objak
January 13, 2017 2:08 pm
Yes, but we do know the name of the person who, ahem, leaked the document. Its Christopher Steele, a former MI6 agent, who has been a respected source of information for decades. He is now hiding, by the way, as some people who have run afoul of Putin met with bad ends.
Trump himself once said it his history with women would keep him from being president, and while they were both on Howard Stern, AJ Benza a gossip columnist teased Trump for bragging how much he loved Russia because the women there “have no morals.”
In any case, there is almost certainly sordid stuff on Trump out there and imo it is quite likely to surface in the next months. He is not helping things by going to war with much of the intelligence community, which by the way, makes it seem more credible that he feels the need to protect Putin at all costs.
irishmoses
January 13, 2017 2:59 pm
Brilliant piece, Katie. You’ve raised the principle of economy of words to new heights.
HarryLaw
January 13, 2017 5:45 pm
Katie, I think you misunderstand or are very naughty, what’s happened here is that Trump’s idea of capitalism is that if the rich get richer then the 99% inevitably benefit Trump’s economic theory is used to describe the belief that if high income earners gain an increase in salary, then everyone in the economy will benefit as their increased income and wealth filter through to all sections in society. Its called the trickle down effect.
Eva Smagacz
January 13, 2017 7:03 pm
Steele did not release the dossier.
His job was to collect dirt, gossip and salacious details using his contacts in Russia.
Which he did.
He then submitted the dossier to M16 and FBI (or rather his client did), as these are right people to separate wheat (if there are any) from chaff.
His company is way too small to be able to verify and fact-check such a material, and I am sure Trump’s Democratic enemies who
originally commissioned dirt digging exercise did not feel
the need for verification.
Most of the research (or spying) in foreign countries is about gossip, unconnected bits of information and not least, an innuendo and scandals. Those peaces of information go through a number of sieves, before grains of truth are gleaned.
The leak of original dossier happened in USA, after FBI was given dossier for assessment and verification.
Don’t blame Steele. He did his job.
Whoever leaked it to Guardian and Washington Post
made sure that real impact of few damaging facts has
been diluted by obvious rubbish.
Some guests on cable tv news/infotainment shows have claimed the hired Brit agent has credibility in the world IT community. And that he used his contacts in Russia to prepare the dossier. Given Clapper says US IT cannot confirm or deny the truth of the dossier contents, which is also why most of the mainstream media sat on it for so long, what’s the point of releasing it or even confirming the dossier exist to the US public? They cannot assess the truth of its contents, but can only let it bounce around in their minds, definitely harming Trump’s ability to do his job effectively as POTUS. Last ditch effort to unseat him and/or lay groundwork for getting him dumped? Surely as a former KGB guy, Putin has been aware of the dossier, so I’m not sure why he would have allowed it to be made as Trump has been a fan of his.
Yes, but we do know the name of the person who, ahem, leaked the document. Its Christopher Steele, a former MI6 agent, who has been a respected source of information for decades. He is now hiding, by the way, as some people who have run afoul of Putin met with bad ends.
Trump himself once said it his history with women would keep him from being president, and while they were both on Howard Stern, AJ Benza a gossip columnist teased Trump for bragging how much he loved Russia because the women there “have no morals.”
In any case, there is almost certainly sordid stuff on Trump out there and imo it is quite likely to surface in the next months. He is not helping things by going to war with much of the intelligence community, which by the way, makes it seem more credible that he feels the need to protect Putin at all costs.
Brilliant piece, Katie. You’ve raised the principle of economy of words to new heights.
Katie, I think you misunderstand or are very naughty, what’s happened here is that Trump’s idea of capitalism is that if the rich get richer then the 99% inevitably benefit Trump’s economic theory is used to describe the belief that if high income earners gain an increase in salary, then everyone in the economy will benefit as their increased income and wealth filter through to all sections in society. Its called the trickle down effect.
Steele did not release the dossier.
His job was to collect dirt, gossip and salacious details using his contacts in Russia.
Which he did.
He then submitted the dossier to M16 and FBI (or rather his client did), as these are right people to separate wheat (if there are any) from chaff.
His company is way too small to be able to verify and fact-check such a material, and I am sure Trump’s Democratic enemies who
originally commissioned dirt digging exercise did not feel
the need for verification.
Most of the research (or spying) in foreign countries is about gossip, unconnected bits of information and not least, an innuendo and scandals. Those peaces of information go through a number of sieves, before grains of truth are gleaned.
The leak of original dossier happened in USA, after FBI was given dossier for assessment and verification.
Don’t blame Steele. He did his job.
Whoever leaked it to Guardian and Washington Post
made sure that real impact of few damaging facts has
been diluted by obvious rubbish.